


On the Run

by MaddieClarke



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Adventure, Blood and Injury, F/M, Falskaar, My First Work in This Fandom, Mystery, Rating May Change, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:54:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieClarke/pseuds/MaddieClarke
Summary: Alina has endured it all, torture and potion experimenting at the hands of the Thalmor in an abandoned prison. They seem to think she has affiliation with the other prisoner, but she has no recollection of anything from the past. Every time she tries to piece it together, its as if the pathway doesn't exist or a bolder is blocking her from doing so. But she will not back down, they will not break her will. Will she escape? She has a long journey ahead of her with several trials and odds stacked so high against her, will she overcome them or succumb to them and give up? Will she survive with her life or will she meet everyone in Sovngarde?
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Alina woke up in what looked like an abandoned prison. The old brick adorned moss and mold freely growing and not a sound or a moan could be heard. Uncertainty began to set in as she wasn’t too sure how she got here, her memories began to clash and fade into a dark abyss. It felt as if it had been longer than a year since she had contact with the outside world. The more she tried to piece her memories back together like a puzzle, the harder her head began to pound. She decided to save her strength and energy on what mattered: figuring out where she was and how to escape. As she was pinned to the wall with the inability to move, she started to hear voices speak to one another.

* * *

“She simply does not recall anything. Through countless hours questioning, potion concoctions, and even torture, she will not admit to anything.” One man said with a calm yet enthusiastic tone, reminding her of a scholar. 

When she heard the rumble of laughter through the prison she noticed the emptiness around her. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was the only one there. “That’s not true, Voriil. That’s simply untrue.” He was expecting a voluntary confession by the end of today, and hearing otherwise challenged him in more ways than one. “Perhaps your brilliant ideas aren’t so brilliant. Perhaps I should bring someone in who would get the job done. After all, the other prisoner that was just brought in is subdued and you can’t even get a confession out of yours.”  
  
“Cyrelian. She is not just an ordinary prisoner. She has a fire within her, even if I was able to get a possible confession out of her, her will has not been broken, that could take days if not more I believe.” Alina heard what sounded like various things hitting the floor, like someone was cleaning a disorganized table by flinging everything off of it.  
  
“We don’t have days! You were to do this in the time frame allotted! That was the agreement or do you not recall!” Cyrelian stated, anger boiling over at the seams.

“I--I do-- I do!” Voriil said, trying to fight out of the grasp. “I--I remember! I--I will g--get a confession.”  
  
“Good, or you’ll be returning to the Summerset Isle… in pieces.” There was a wicked grin on his lips, one that could terrify even a babe fresh from the womb. He was as scary as he was serious. 

* * *

If someone was to look at her, they’d think she was an ordinary prisoner, but upon further investigation they would see the pure hell she’d been through. They’d see the lesions on her skin, fresh and old, the very fabric fraying off of her own skin, and all she could feel is the sting of pain. Water filled around her eyelids begging for a release, but she couldn’t justify it. She wouldn’t justify it and she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her break.

The old prison door creaked open and her stomach sunk, she knew that sound, but she wasn’t too certain from where. “I don’t know anything!” Alina called out.

“But,” He came in wearing the classic Thalmor robes, his skin a yellow color and his eyes were something she grew terrified of because she remembered bits and pieces of what he’s capable of from the day before, but the rest, it was like shoving a puzzle piece where it didn’t belong, “you do, my girl, you do. And my presence should symbolize I’m here to recoup that information by force or other means if entirely necessary.” He leveled down, now directly in eye contact with her. “Though, the force would not be necessary if you just told us your involvement with the other prisoner we retrieved.”  
  
“I don’t know anything,” She repeated, but more in a growl this time. “I barely remember anything.”

A smile was on his lips, she could see it clearly despite the darkness of her cell, “Ah, yes, that must be a side effect of the experiments.” He pushed a single hair out of her face for a better look and she yanked her head out of his grasp and a ball of spit flew in his direction.

“Do not touch me. By the divines, if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll end you.” The need for revenge churned in her stomach and it was like a growing hunger.  
  
“Hush, you cannot even move on your own, you are not exactly in the position to be making such threats.” He wiped the spit off his cheek with a sleeve and removed a bottle from his pocket. “Open up.”  
  
She shook her head keeping her jaw pressed tightly together. “This again? My dear girl, when are you going to learn?” A blast of green glowing dust engulfed her entire line of vision and just as such, her body went lip. She couldn’t fight or scream for help. She couldn’t move a limb. He grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her head backwards with force. “This would’ve been a lot of easier if you did as instructed.” He dumped the liquid in her mouth, it burned and made her cough in reaction. However, as quick as that liquid hit her stomach, it was coming back up. Bile from lack of a proper diet spilled all over the stone in front of her. 

“Oh, that just will not do, no. That will not do.” That was all she heard as the agony from a blunt blow to her temple made the world around her go back.

* * *

  
  
When she woke up her hands were chained to the walls, and she was standing up right. Everything was blurred and continued to go in and out of focus, but one person she did see was Voriil standing in front of her. There were several instruments of torture in front of him on the wooden table. He was scolding her as he would a child, “Tsk, tsk. You had to go and vomit the contents of that bottle, and my dear, that was a rare bottle with the perfect formula, so here we are, resorting to...other measures.”  
  
“I told you..I don’t know anything..I don’t even know who you’re talking about..” She pleaded, “I don’t remember how I got here.. Let me go. I won’t tell anyone.” Anyone that knew her, and if they’d gotten to read her closely, they’d know she was lying. She would tell everyone from here to Sovngarde about the practices here and bury them if it was the last thing she did.  
  
“I cannot do that, no, I will not do that.” He had a metal object in his hand, circular at the tip, the colors of orange and red radiated with a glow, “Now I did not want to go to these measures, but you have left me no other choice.” He carried himself with such determination, but so did she. She adjusted herself with her hands wrapped around the cuffs of her chains as she braced for the pain that would soon greet her.

“I will ask one more time, how do you know the other prisoner?” He stood in front of her, so close, if she could just reach out and inflict the same pain he was preparing to.  
  
“I don’t know the other prisoner! Why do you think I would!?” Alina inquired with irritation and anger lacing through her tone.  
  
“Incorrect answer.” Voriil pressed the steaming hot brander onto her abdomen and at first, she was determined to not allow him to control her emotions, but the pain, the burning sensation began to grow with intensity and her forehead glistened as she threw her head back and let out a howl of great anguish. Once the pain was great enough, he finally peeled it away from her skin and it left a terrifying, raw wound. “Let’s try again. I will be more... careful to word this better this time around...” He walked back to the table and picked up what appeared to be an embalming tool. “You were seen in close radius to him, so no use in denying it, what is he to you?”  
  
She could’ve insulted his intelligence or his physical appearance, but that wouldn’t have done her any favors. She lubricated her lips, “I’m... not telling you.” She said breathlessly. “It’s too long, I can write it..if I had a quill and ink..” Voriil looked at her bewildered and astonished. “Parchment as well..”  
  
“Very well.” He said, “How you get your confession out verbally or written is trivial.” The minute he left the room, Alina began rattling the chains to see if there was a sensitive spot to cause a break, but alas there wasn’t, and even if there was, he came back in record time with a lot more pep in his step than before. The items she asked for laid on the table side by side to the instruments that were in her future just moments ago. “Here you are-- oh. I suppose being in those chains will not help any.” He removed the key and released her cuff by cuff, “It would be within your best interest to stick to the plan.”  
  
She rubbed her scarred wrists as they were released and made her way carefully to the table. A single candle stood lit in front of her, the flames dancing freely. The quill tip already dipped in the ink for her, “I can’t see this very well. Is the ink working?” She asked, squinting at the paper in front of her.  
  
Voriil appeared beside her, he was looking down at the paper, “I would gather so, it seems to--” With all of her force, his head slammed onto the table multiple times until she was certain he wasn’t going to awake from it all anytime soon, or at all. “I warned you I wouldn’t break.” She huffed and began making her way down the darkness of the halls, ignoring the bloody scene she left in her wake. 

Any logical person would’ve ran out of that prison the moment he was down, but she wasn’t going to leave someone behind. If she was undergoing this sort of torture, one could only imagine the torment and toture he’s enduring. Through her search for any weapons to arm herself with, she came across torn journal entries from prisoners that wrote down their final fears and thoughts before leaving this world, even came across some potions, but due to what she just drank, the doubt of its authenticity was in question. She managed to find a dagger and a greatsword, but the pain she was experiencing was far too great to swing something of that magnitude, so a dagger would just have to do. She managed to find a linen wrap and as carefully as possible she managed to wrap her abdomen section to cover the burn as well as protect it. She hissed and moaned in pain through the entire ordeal. However wrapping it did nothing for the stinging and burning that could be felt down to the nerves.  
  
The beaten girl continued her search through the prison, she didn’t find any other guards, and there were no other people in sight, just skeletons laid out of prisoners well past their time. That’s when her eyes laid upon a man chained to a wall like she was, his head drooped. Was he alive? She stood waiting quietly, so quietly one could see her chest barely raising and collapsing, trying to depict whether or not he was breathing.  
  
Carefully, and not without leaning on the cell rails for support, she made her way to the door and used the key she found moments before to open the door. The moment she walked through that threshold the air was thicker here, in this particular cell. “When I get out of here, I’ll kill you all myself.”

The tone that was used, she could hear and note the anger beyond it. “I’m not with the Thalmor.. I was.. I was a prisoner too.” Her hand laid rest across her abdomen, and it’s true, she’s probably seen better days. “What’s your name?”  
  
“Kaidan. My name’s Kaidan. Who are _you_?”


	2. Chapter 2

“Alina..” She walked over to the shackles to examine whether or not she needed a key to free him. “There isn’t much time to talk.” She tugged on the cuffs and made an expression that signaled she was in far more pain than she would admit, but only if he was paying close enough attention to catch it. “I have a key, just stay...still.” Using the key to free him, she watched his body let gravity take over and drop him to the ground. In turn, she saw all of the lashings on his back, some of them had scabbed over, and some were still oozing blood onto his skin. She didn’t say anything because she knew what that felt like, she had found common ground. The pain that washes through your body continuously without time to even register what had just happened moments before.  
  
“Thank you.” Kaidan stated, but this time, he had no anger or hostility towards her.  
  
“I’m not leaving just yet.” Alina stated, “If you want to follow the path outside of this cell and up the stairs, it’s the way I came, it’s free of Thalmor. I have things I need to finish here first.” The singular thought of another person enduring the things they both went through sent a wave of fury clear through her. She wasn’t going to allow it, but she was going to give him the option to leave if he wanted to leave.  
  
“I’m not leaving without my sword. That Thalmor scum got his hands on it.” He added, reaching to the ground to assist pushing himself up. “And you don’t look like you could handle this fight alone.” In other words, she translated that as, he’s staying alongside her, but if he had any sense or logic he would leave her behind wounded or not. “There should be a potion or two around here.”  
  
Alina reacted immediately, maybe even irrationally to him, “No.” Her words were abrupt, “I’m fine.” She felt as if she was continuously looking over her shoulder. She began worrying that for one second if she allowed herself to focus on herself, something would unravel that. She had no safety net here to fall into in this prison. “I don’t want one, just… heal yourself if we find them.”  
  
Kaidan looked at her curiously, maybe that was confusion and she was mixing the emotions. “Suit yourself, but you should take a moment before pushing on. That injury looks bad.”  
  
She turned around to look at him, if glares could’ve shot daggers in his direction they would have shot a thousand. “I don’t need your concern for my well being. I’m _fine_ . Either help me take them down, or don’t, but stop worrying about me.” She snapped. However, it wasn’t long before she realized her temper was completely unwarranted, “I’m sorry.” She whispered. She was hopeful that she could survive this without a potion, but she wasn’t too sure she could. “I was..” Her voice trailed off and came to an abrupt stop. She wasn’t going to open up to a stranger, “Never mind, I just want to get this over with.”  
  
The pair didn’t say much more to each other in the search for the other Thalmor which she could only gather was Cyrelian himself. As Voriil was laying in a pile of his own blood, which brought her more joy than she initially thought, that only left one that she knew of. She managed to find some rotted food, more coins, books, and another sword.  
  
“Here, take this.” She tossed the sword in Kaidan’s direction. “Oops, I didn’t think that through..” She whispered to herself.  
  
“By Zenithar… you can’t just throw sharp objects at people.” Kaidan said.  
  
Alina casually rolled her eyes, “Don’t be such a baby.” Anything she could do to take her mind off of the pain, she would do it. Even if it meant idle banter. It was only a little while longer, she kept telling herself, so she pushed on. The pair went up the stairs, crouched low and careful not to attract any attention. She peaked around the corner and saw a man in hooded dark robes adorned by gold decor sitting on the chair sitting adjacent to the archway. She briefly saw a bed in the distance, a wooden wardrobe between the desk and the bed, and a wooden chest across the distance from him before she curled back into secrecy. Even though she only remembers seeing Voriil, she wouldn’t doubt she’d seen him at some point. She leaned back and did a number of hand gestures that seemed to confuse and excite Kaidan all at the same time. When he just narrowed his eyes and gave the slightest tilt of his head, she face palmed and waved him off as a signal of ‘ah forget it’.  
  


Stealth had no play here considering where he was sitting, she would be caught either way. Her hand fell to her dagger, her only weapon. Meanwhile, Kaidan held a sword that looked far too small in his hands. It was now or never, she’s not a coward. She walked in, dagger in her right hand and fire illuminating her left hand. “How did you get in here!?” Cyrelian exclaimed, clearly taken by surprise. He was outnumbered two to one and she took that as the advantage to press on. She raised her hand but not in the direction of Cyrelian, in the direction of her dagger. She was heating the weapon up before using it. 

“Came to join you for tea.” She said sarcastically, and saw a ward appear in front of him. As if to block any magical damage done. No use in using magic on that note. She swung herself, spinning in a full three hundred and sixty degree spin before her dagger sliced open the robe. Blood staining her iron dagger, she wasted no time unleashing her anger and wrath onto him. She spared no square inch of his body. It was clearly a struggle and the room being in a complete disarray was a clear indication of such. She saw a moment of his own weakness, an opening to him, and grabbed his shoulder, plunging the dagger deep into the cavity of his chest. She made eye contact as she watched the life drain from his very eyes and until the satisfaction of his death quenched her needs and only then did she drop his body.  
  
“That looked...personal.” Kaidan observed.  
  
“Because it was.” Alina spat and began searching the room. Pretending she didn’t just take someone’s life in her own hands for the sake of revenge. She wondered to herself if this feeling of emptiness would continue to sit on her chest like a mammoth or would it disappear eventually with time. “Is this your armor?” She opened the chest and saw steel armor shining from the sun that was peaking through the cracks.  
  
“Yeah, it was like my second skin for years.” He moved over beside her which caused her to slightly cringe. “I’m gathering that's yours, but it looks like mere clothes.” He scoffed, unenthusiastically. “I don’t see how that’s any protection at all.” A black knitted shirt with leather skin tight pants sat in the wooden chest, a pair of boots with steel shin guards and a pair of black gloves were all in pair with it.  
  
“I--” She looked at the clothes in hopes it would trigger something, some sort of memory attached to it. “--don’t remember if they are…” She was more than embarrassed at that notion alone. “The experiments they did… It's like bits and pieces of my memory are gone. I remember my name, but not how I got here… or why.” She shook her head, “It doesn’t matter, they’re just my size anyway.” She tried to disconnect from it. The idea of relearning everything over again was a daunting task. “Get dressed.” She ordered grabbing the clothes and retreating to a room behind the bedroom with the dead Thalmor laying on the floor.  
  
It was a struggle to remove her shirt, gasping and wincing in pain before she just took the dagger and cut it off her own skin to avoid anymore pain.  
  
“You alright in there? Need a hand?” Kaidan asked.  
  
“I’m fine!” She chirped. “Give me a little…” She said, trying to put on the pants. Bending over sent a stabbing sensation through her abdomen. She jolted up and lost her balance, which caused her to hit the bookshelf that was knocked over along her ribs. “Fuck!” She exclaimed and in rushed Kaidan. “Get out!” She exclaimed covering her chest with her hands, essentially hiding her bare body from him. “I’m getting dressed!”

He chuckled humorously, “Give me those things before we’re here all day.” He took the pants and pointed at the table, “Sit there, ya saved my life, now let me help.” He said and she groaned and huffed but seemed no harm in it. It’s not as if he hadn’t seen a woman entirely naked before. 

She did as he asked, and he helped her slip into her clothes. His movements were delicate and soft, keeping her from complaining or reacting to the pain too much. She could’ve sworn there was a moment where she was making eye contact with him, and noticed something, but she wasn’t sure what. “You really should drink a potion. That wound won’t heal overnight. I found one in the wardrobe if you want it.”  
  
Alina shook her head, “I don’t want a potion from here. Stop asking me.” She pulled her platinum blonde hair from underneath the knit top. Her breathing was shallow, and she knew it was an indicator she needed a healing potion or a spell to heal herself. “I’ll get a potion from a shop, but not from here.” 

The next half hour was spent in silence, idle chit chat between the two of them about necessities and the like that could be sold in exchange for gold. The pair needed nearly double of everything, and nothing in this world was cheap. The other half hour was spent in search of how to escape this place. It leads to several dead ends with rubble of the stone work crashing down and hallways that intersect one another into a big loop and eventually they make their way out. The sun shined down on the pair and both of their eyes squinted. There was a waterfall right in front of them with no clear pathway out aside from trenching through water. The sound of birds chirping filled the surroundings and the aroma of fresh water filled her nostrils. “Where are we?”  
  
“They really did a number on you, didn’t they? Somewhere between Windhelm and Whiterun, though my bet is closer to Windhelm than Whiterun.”  
  
“And you’re not going to leave me alone, are you?” Alina inquired, though she was slightly amused by his determination.  
  
“Not a chance.” He walked into the river and held out a hand for her to take.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be doing updates every Friday! xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was almost uncertain if the chapter was going to reach you all today. I've had a very, VERY rough week this week. I've tried to preserver through the chaos of this week and bring a good quality chapter. If it's not good quality, I apologize, but this week and more to come are definitely going to be trying. I will try to adhere to the guidelines of posting every Friday for you all, but if I don't, rest assured I did not forget! I'm just simply ... adjusting to my life right now. <3

“How far is Whiterun from here?” Alina asked. She was barely able to put one foot in front of the other without feeling like her knees would buckle beneath her. Her forehead was glistening in the sunlight beating down on them from the skies above.   
  
“A few hours.” Kaidan said, “Or longer if you walk like that. I could just.. Ya’know, haul you over my shoulder.”   
  
That alone earned him a side-eyed glare of pure daggers, “Don’t you dare.” Although having great pain, she tried to push through it. It was only a few hours, she survived worse today in that prison alone. “And stop looking at me like that.”   
  
“You have elf ears, but you don’t look like one.” Kaidan observed.

She shook her head, “If you’re going to ask me what race am I, I don’t know. I don’t remember anything. Bits and pieces, but nothing...solid or tangible.” She had the ears of an elf, but she appeared more humanoid than an Altmer. She didn’t have the yellow skin, nor the height to back her up. She was as pale as snow, with white hair cascading down to her mid back and blue eyes that could put the seas to shame.  
  
There was a moment or two of silence, “There’s no sense in trying to jog my memory. I’ve tried, I think, many times. I can’t piece it together. It’s like… missing multiple pieces to a puzzle. It doesn’t show the whole image of who I am, what they did in there..” She pressed her lips together in a thin line, staring at the stone pavement in front of her.   
  
“I get it.” He said, deciding not to push her further. The frustration and irritation was lingering on her face like a sunset. It was clear to anyone who paid attention.   
  
“Why were you in the prison?” She asked, “I’d say my reason, but …”

“Dunno, really. I think it might have something to do with my sword and the runes on it.” Kaidan said.  
  
“The runes on your sword? Really? And you… don’t know what significant value they have?” Now she was curious, almost _too_ curious.   
  
“No, I don’t. I’ve been trying to figure out the meaning behind them, perhaps a book, but to no avail.”   
  
Alina nodded and hummed at the same time. “I’m intrigued.”   
  
“If I knew talking about my sword would intrigue you, I would’ve done it sooner.”   
  
It made her chuckle and she grabbed her side in pain, “Ow, don’t.. Don’t make me laugh, that hurt.” She said with a smile despite the pain. “You can’t--you can’t make me laugh like that.”   
  
A few moments passed in silence, Alina would look at him and show a glimpse of a smile, Kaidan would return the gesture in a way of his own, which would make her just shake her head. Through the search in the prison, she didn’t find another single prisoner. It was just the two of them there with the Thalmor. He must’ve been the one she was linked to. However, she didn’t have the heart to tell him he was the reason she was tortured or even demand answers. She kept reminding herself he could’ve up and left her the minute he exited, but instead he decided to stay and make sure she got a potion to treat her wounds. Though, some of the scars would still remain, it was a sweet gesture and an appreciated one.

“Shh.” Alina said, holding the bow she had looted from the prison in her right hand. “I hear something.” It was a moment of focus for her to hear distant chatter back and forth about gold and something about making camp. “Bandits.” She said confidently.   
  
Kaidan continued to scope ahead, picking out the exact number before returning to her, “Create distance, you’re already wound---” Kaidan didn’t have much room to talk before she drew her bow, arrow tip already pointing in his direction.   
  
“I’m not a damn liability.” Alina said, lowering her weapon, “How many?”   
  
“Seven to nine at most.”   
  
“All right.” She said with the slightest nod. Determination had set in that she was going to hold her own, wounded be damned. 

  
  


* * *

Blood smeared onto Alina’s steel shin boots as she hovered over the last bandit’s body. She was quietly chanting to herself that she did it, she overcame the odds, escaped the inescapable, so to speak, and while wounded, she still fought back, back in the prison and here. She wasn’t the weakest link, despite the uncertainty of several things, that wasn’t one of them.  
  
“Are you admiring the view or your handy work?” Kaidan finally broke the silence.   
  
“The latter.” She lied, she wasn’t admiring the dead man nor admiring her handy work. It was something else entirely.   
  
“Nice to know you can hold your own if need be.”   
  
“Mmm.” She hummed, and started looking through the belongings of these bandits. She was almost certain none of them would ever inflict the torture and hell she endured through potion mixtures and experimentation. She finally came across the bottle, a healing potion. It was a faint red in color, and she hesitated for a few moments.   
  
It was as if her body was stopping her, telling her no. “Where’s the kid? There was a kid...I saw them.” Alina asked quietly, trying to not give off the obvious assumption.

“Dunno. I didn’t see them.”   
  
“If they come back, don’t hurt them. I won’t hurt kids, and you won’t either as long as you’re with me.” Her voice shook ever so slightly towards the end.   
  
There was a silence, a brief moment of silence until she saw Kaidan rummaging the same way she was. Looking through dressers, and endstands, looking through the chest and found a weaker version of a health potion. “Bottoms up, aye?”   
  
One of her brows rose, questioning what he was doing without actually saying anything.   
  
“You’re not taking the potion. If something happens then it happens to us both, and you can say ‘ _I told you so_ ’.”

Alina sighed frustratingly, he was _relentless_ in this. As if he was her bodyguard or more. She didn’t understand it. “Fine. You’re annoying, you know that?” It was rhetorical, but she drank the potion. A warm sensation flooded from the crown of her head and washed over her entire body like a sweet embrace, but also a tugging and pulling sensation. It was uncomfortable, but it was bearable.   
  
She lifted her shirt to find nothing was there in the place that it was. There wasn’t even so much as a scar left in its wake. She didn’t puke on impulse either, which was a good sign she thought. “It worked..” She whispered in disbelief. Bandits may be savage, they may be brutal, but they wouldn’t turn on their own in that sense unless it was unavoidable. She imagined they were like family to each other.   
  
“Good, now we have a chance at making it to Whiterun before sunset.” Kaidan threw his sword onto his back, locking it in place. “Gather what you want to sell, but we need to go before more show up.”

  
  


* * *

As the pair drew close to Whiterun, the stone architecture engulfing the town except for the farms on the outskirts, the beautiful sunset painted a beautiful picture in the sky. Lingering purple and pink hues whisked across meeting red and yellow hues. It was as if the sky was painted and displayed for all to see by Nirn’s most exquisite artist. All mostly seemed quiet at this hour, or settling down for the evening with their families. 

She wasn’t sure whether she’s been here before or if she just _wanted_ to feel as if she was here before, however, that sense of familiarity washed over her nonetheless. Blue eyes scanned the horizon to find some sort of a familiar face, but there was no one. It was empty, not just the memory, but the roads.   
  
“Trying to spot a familiar face in the crowd?” Kaidan asked and that alone was annoying her. As if he was paying such close attention to watch her every move. As if he _knew_ who she was without even her knowing who she was.   
  
“Can you stop observing me? It’s weird.” Alina said approaching the doors to Whiterun hold. “You don’t see me observing you and making assumptions.”

“Mm-mm.” He hummed, “Obvious, aggressive, demanding..”  
  
Alina huffed and rolled her eyes, “I should’ve left you back in that prison. You’re insufferable and I don’t even know you.”   
  
The guards opened the doors allowing them passage inside. She didn’t know what to expect, maybe kids running around and the blissful sounds of birds chirping with a ray of sunshine shining down on the city, but it looked anything but that. It was small, only a few houses, maybe businesses that were closed for the night, or on their way to being closed for the night. She stopped the woman from entering into Warmaiden’s and sold a few things she picked up along the way that were small enough to stuff into her bag. In return, she made a couple coins, not much, but enough to rent a room and provide supper.   
  
They made their way inside the Bannered Mare, the local inn in Whiterun. Kaidan, thankfully, had his own money as did she. She wasn’t taking care of someone else in this. They had to hold their own. She sat at the table in the corner, picking at the meal in front of her. Bread, grilled leeks, and cooked beef. Did she even like cooked beef or beef in general? A sigh escaped her lips, “So… what are you doing in Skyrim?” Alina asked, breaking the silence between the pair.   
  
A brawl had broken out from behind them in no time flat which seemed to gain his attention, but not so much hers. “What kind of question is that?”

“A good one. You seem to have me all figured out, but I’ve yet to figure you out. What are you doing in Skyrim? Are you from here? Or traveled here?”  
  
“I’ve spent a long time wondering, and this is where my feet led me.”   
  
Alina’s brow quirked at how oldly staged that response felt. “There’s more to it than that, you don’t seem that… simple.”   
  
Kaidan chuckled, “Aye, that I’m not. Truthfully,” He started, taking a seat next to her, “I’ve come back to Skyrim for my heritage, my bloodline.”   
  
There was that sort of kinship there with that statement, she felt as if she needed to know the answer to hers too.   
  
“The few clues I do have pointed me here, but it takes time to decode. So I’ve been paying my way by collecting bounties.”   
  
She nodded, uncertain of what else to do, “But you don’t really… look like a Nord. The red eyes and dark hair… that’s not a Nord.” For the first time, she took a bite out of the food on her plate. “You don’t have any family to ask? Distant relatives of sorts?”   
  
“Aren’t you the observant type?” Kaidan asked playfully. “I was raised by a Nord, and as one, but no. That Atmoran ice doesn’t run in my veins, but I also can’t be certain what actually does.” He paused, grabbing her bread off her plate. Oddly, Alina allowed it. “And no, I’m sure I have some kin out there somewhere, but if I do, I’ve never met them. All I have is a hunch, but I need proof to be certain.”   
  
She licked the residue of the beef off her lips, raised her hand, and spoke over the noise surrounding them to the woman wondering the floor bouncing from person to person. “Excuse me, yes, two ale’s please.” She turned back to Kaidan, “This conversation’s getting a bit too.. emotional for my taste.” Alina teased. “If I can help, I will, but I’m not sure what I can do considering I don’t even know my own race.”   
  
Kaidan chuckled, leaning back in his chair. His armor shined under the candlelight, and she caught herself examining his features. Strong jawline, perfectly tan skin, red eyes that seem to stick out among the shoulder length raven black hair, he was different, that was for certain. “Aren’t we quite the pair?”   
  
She narrowed her eyes and the tip of her elf ears that were poked through her fine blonde hair moved ever so slightly. “What do you mean?”   
  
“Two very lost people hoping to find shelter in answers of the unknown.”


	4. Chapter 4

Last night was spent in idle chatter back and forth, figuring out one another, more importantly her figuring herself out. She felt as if there was a chance she didn’t even touch the surface of the problems. Then her greatest fear was brought to light, the chance of her memories  _ never _ coming back. That wasn’t a possibility.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” Kaidan asked, approaching her on the balcony of her bedroom.   
  
Alina held up a paper that she had picked up from the innkeeper Hulda this morning. “We need the money. We can split the profits between the two of us if you’re going to continue to walk around guarding me like you are.”   
  
Kaidan scoffed reading the paper, “Seems to Jarl of Whiterun deems it necessary, and I deem it necessary to stay by your side. You don’t need to be walled off so tight ‘cause I’m not goin’ anywhere.” There was a brief pause, and he handed the parchment of paper back to her, “Silent Moon camp it is then.”    
  
The pair gathered their items and pieced themselves back together, preparing for the fight ahead. Bandits traveled in packs, sometimes being six or more, there were only two of them. They were massively outnumbered, but Alina was confident in her ability to hold her own and she was confident in Kaidan as well, even if she never said it. 

Exiting the city was much different from last night. With the markets up and running, foot traffic was much higher. Kids were running around playing tag with one another; it appeared to be an entirely different city. Last night, it was so quiet, maybe a few guards here and there, but no other people, however, today that was a different story. But even with seeing the city in full glory during the daylight, it didn’t matter much. Her own internal frustration began to get the best of her.   
  
“Are you listenin’?” Kaidan spoke.   
  
“What!?” Alina snapped.   
  
“Whoa, easy now. The bandit camp is  _ this _ way.” He pointed in the direction behind him. “Not sure where yer head is, but best to get out of it before we get there, yeah?”   
  
She grumbled something, however, it wasn’t something that was necessarily an insult in his direction. More of an indirect insult at a general situation and turned, now walking in the direction.    
  
“Kai?” Alina called out, and it immediately got the raven-haired man’s attention. “What exactly brought you to Skyrim?”

“That’s more of a conversation for when we’ve got a chance to prop our feet up by a fire.” Kaidan said.

“Why?”   
  
“I dunno really. I guess I just like the theatrics of a campfire story.” Kaidan jested.

A smile managed to creep way onto Alina’s lips, and at least she had  _ one _ exciting thing to look forward to.   
  


* * *

The shins of her boots were stained in blood as the last bandit’s head rolled across the ground beneath her. “Well, good going. I was going to use that one--”   
  
“Don’t say magic.” Kaidan cut her off before she could even finish.

“What’s with you and magic users? Clearly I know how to use it properly.”    
  
“Just don’t try to set me on fire and we’ll be fine.” Something was off or different about him. He was light and airy just moments before stepping foot into this camp and even swinging his giant cortana at bandits he seemed happier than what he was now.

“Is it because I used necromancy? I didn’t even use fire. I don’t… I don’t know if I can to be honest.” Alina was looking at her hands as if they were some kind of deadly weapon. Flipping them over to see the palms and back to the back of her hands. “I didn’t even know I could use a spell to summon a corpse.” He was silent, silent and sulky about it. She took that as a cue to shut her mouth before she angers her only companion on the road. Instead she took that time to take anything she might find of use in the future. A few spell tombs, some arrows, some potions before making her way ever so silently towards the door of this cave. “We have a bounty to collect.” Alina whispered.   
  
Kaidan followed in silence just as she was. The use of magic seemed to derail any sort of future friendship they might’ve achieved over the course of their journey for the time being. She didn’t understand why and he wasn’t exactly being all too open about it either. Seemingly enough, Kaidan didn’t mind hanging in the back while she took the front, probably for the best. The pair made it back to Whiterun unscathed and to Dragonsreach. “So this is the infamous Dragonsreach…” Kaidan stated, “That’s supposed to hold the almighty fire breathing dragon… but it’s made of wood.”    
  
A snicker left Alina’s lips before she could catch it. “ _Kaidan_.” She turned around, a smile clearly plastered. “Don’t insult the Jarl and get us thrown out.”    
  
“I doubt that’ll happen.” Kaidan added, confidence lingering in his tone.   
  


* * *

Sometime passed and Alina’s pocket was a bit heavier than what it was before. “Should we get camping gear?” She asked, stepping down from the cloud district, and making her way to the plain district. “I don’t plan on staying in Whiterun for much longer.” Kaidan was still quiet and she couldn’t understand why. Surely it can’t be because she used magic, that moment came and went and she wasn’t going to suppress her abilities because he doesn’t like a few of them.   
  
A scoff left her lips as she entered into Belethor’s General Goods and moments later came out with a large tent. Enough room for both of them even if he didn’t want to speak to her. She threw it at him, “You can carry it with your negative emotions you got goin’ on there.” Her tone was a bit aggressive. She also managed to barter her way into a bag to carry.   
  


Alina walked her way in silence, Kaidan hadn’t said much and she wasn’t sure, aside from magic use, what she did to really aggravate him into silence himself. She shouldn’t even care, but she knew from the looks of this place, it wasn’t safe traveling alone. She didn’t want her only companion to leave her high and dry either.    
  
Her feet carried her on the stone pathway, out of Whiterun, even passing farms, and a windmill, a brewery it seemed before making a hard right turn. Where was she going? She wasn’t fairly certain. She just wanted to keep walking and keep distance in between him and her. Her mind wandered to a place it was last night. As frightening as it was, would it truly be that awful to have no memories of her past life? Would it be a blessing in disguise or a curse?   
  


* * *

  
  
The duo had finally passed through Riverwood, a quaint little town sitting along a river. Beautifully isolated into the forest. She supposed that’s where their name came from. Neither him nor her said anything to one another and she wasn’t going to be the first to budge an apology. Truthfully, what would she apologize for?    
  
“Alina.” He said her name and she felt her heart stop.    
  
“Yes?”   
  
“I shouldn’t have reacted like that about your magic.” 

He couldn’t see it but a small smile grew on her lips in appreciation. “It’s fine.” 

“It’s not. It’s unfair to treat you as a rogue mage.” Kaidan said, “Just warn me before you start shooting off fireballs, aye? I don’t take kindly to being burnt.”   
  
She hummed, “Mhmmm. Sure, Kai. I’ll make sure to hit you directly with it.” In the distance, she could see another town, though it appeared to be on the smaller side, it was a bit bigger than the previous town. 

“Do you have any recollection of where you’re even going?”    
  
“Hmmmm..” Alina started, “Not in the slightest. I’m just walking, but now I’m curious..” Listening closely, she heard nothing, not a single person in the distance conversing with one another, children talking -- no. It was as quiet as she’s ever heard a town be. “I don’t like this..” She whispered and readied her bow. The pair cautiously took two steps forward and next thing Alina’s eyes saw was something flying out of the town, roaring through the air. “Is that a--”

“Dragon.” Kaidan and Alina, both paralyzed with shock, as they watched the black creature fly off towards the distance of which they just traveled from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize so much for the lack of updates. Know that I've been staring at this chapter for over a month trying to update it. Current events in my life have had my schedule extremely unpredictable and thus the desire to write lower than ever. Next chapter I will cut down on the breaks and hopefully have an even flow of chain of events! I will also try my hardest to keep it updated on a more regular basis and I appreciate those that have stuck around to read this! You're the real MVP and a show not all superhero's wear capes <333


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